Do you know where this is?

Like any municipality, Worcester finds itself the owner of many properties, though the city's primary function isn't property management. Many of those properties were purchased; some were left to the city or acquired by tax takings; some were built specifically to fill a public need. Such was the case of the building in this 1973 photo, but the city found itself in a quandary.

Like any municipality, Worcester finds itself the owner of many properties, though the city's primary function isn't property management.

Many of those properties were purchased; some were left to the city or acquired by tax takings; some were built specifically to fill a public need.

Such was the case of the building in this 1973 photo, but the city found itself in a quandary.

The building was no longer in use for its intended purpose, but its location meant it could not necessarily be sold for another use.

It was a predicament typical of many of the properties placed in the public trust.

Vacant for many years while city officials grappled with more pressing problems, it was firmly on the road to being a public nuisance and a drain on the city's coffers. The decision was made to demolish it in the 1970s.

While the 10-room brick building itself is architecturally unexceptional, the decorative fencing around it was — and still is, as the fence remains.

If the building had survived with any value intact, it might have benefitted from what happened to its surroundings 20 years later: A group formed to help preserve the history of the area worked to get the area named to the National Register of Historic Places.

Hint: The demolition of the building made way for more city residents in the future, though more than 40 years later none have moved in.